With Trump off on his whirlwind trip abroad, I figured it would be all international news this week. But the chaos and drama at home seem to be never-ending. Here’s what happened last week.

Russia:

1. The director of national intelligence (Daniel Coats) and the director of the NSA (Adm. Michael Rogers) testify before the House Intelligence Committee. We learn that in March, Trump asked both to deny publicly that there is evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
2. The Senate Intelligence Committee announces additional subpoenas to require Michael Flynn to turn over documents. He could be held in contempt of Congress if he refuses.
3. Joe Lieberman withdraws from consideration for the position of FBI director after Trump retains Marc Kasowitz to represent him on Russia issues. Lieberman cites conflict of interest, since he is currently senior counsel at Kasowitz’s law firm.
4. Former CIA director John Brennan testifies before the House Intelligence Committee, saying he saw intelligence that showed contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, and that he is convinced that Russia aggressively tried to interfere in the election.
5. Brennan says that the CIA intelligence found that Russians discussed how to influence Trump advisors but whether they actually tried to influence either is still being investigated
6. There are currently at least five probes related to Russia, from ties with Trump campaign staff and associates to James Comey’s firing.
7. Fox News retracts a story about DNC staffer Seth Rich where they implied that he was the leaker to Wikileaks and that his death was related to the DNC. Sean Hannity refuses to let it go completely, despite all players saying there’s no evidence of either the contact with Wikileaks or the murder being anything other than a robbery gone bad.
8. Jeff Sessions says he was advised not to disclose his meetings with foreign leaders as a senator on his security clearance application, including meetings with Russian officials. It seems this is standard for legislators, since they meet with many officials, but still… you’d think he’d have thought this one through a little better.
9. The new person of interest this week in the Russia investigation is Jared Kushner. The Russian ambassador told Moscow that Kushner wanted a back door communication channel to the Kremlin.
10. The Wall Street Journal publishes a report about Aaron Nevins, a Florida-based Republican who was provided hacked DNC information from Guccifer 2.0 and shared that information with others in the GOP. The info was used by Paul Ryan’s campaign and PAC, among others.
11. According to Comey, he knew a piece of evidence he was working on in relation to Clinton’s email investigation was false and planted by Russian intelligence. There was a document indicating Loretta Lynch told the Clinton campaign not to worry about the emails–no charges would be brought. This led to Comey overriding Lynch last year when he made the public announcement that the investigation was over.

Courts/Justice:

1. It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the North Caroline GOP. On May 15, the Supreme Court struck down a voter law designed to depress black voter turnout ″with almost surgical precision.″ The following week, a court also ruled against new maps of congressional districts that were also designed to limit the black vote. The message here is that states need to stop gerrymandering.

Healthcare:

1. The CBO releases it’s analysis of the healthcare bill passed by the house. Main takeaways:
   • Premiums would vary significantly according to health.
   • People with pre-existing conditions would likely not be able to afford premiums over time.
   • Around 1/6 of Americans live in states that would request waivers, and those markets will be less likely to be stable.
   • Premiums would likely be lower for healthy people.
   • It would likely reduce the deficit by around $120 billion.
   • The 10-year outlook estimates that 23 million more people will be uninsured.
2. Mitch McConnell says he doesn’t know how he can get to 50 votes. My advice? Come up with a plan that works for all Americans.
3. Senate Republicans, who are working on their own version of repeal and replace, consider pushing back the repeal of Obamacare to 2020. Hmmm. Election year. Coincidence?

International:

1. A suicide bomber detonates a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester England, killing 22 and injuring 58 more. This leads investigators to a network of suspected terrorists and at least 13 people are arrested in connection with the bombing.
2. And the above continues the ongoing leak saga… apparently the name of the bomber along with crime scene photos were leaked to U.S. news agencies who later published the information.
3. The Philippines government releases a transcript of Trump’s call with Duterte from last month in which Trump praised Duterte for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” Of note, Duterte started a drug war that sanctioned killing suspects in the streets with no trial. Over 7,000 people have been killed.
4. In the same tape, Trump mentions “two nuclear submarines” off the coast of North Korea. This info isn’t technically classified, but the Pentagon typically doesn’t talk about nuclear sub locations.
5. Wilbur Ross expresses surprise that there weren’t any protests against Trump in Saudi Arabia. Protesting isn’t allowed in Saudi Arabia.
6. Trump continues his trip abroad, meeting with Netanyahu in Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Pope Francis. Then on to the NATO and G7 summits.
7. The warmth evident in Trump’s visits with Mid Eastern leaders sits in stark contrast to the icy chill around the summits with our traditional allies.
8. In the NATO summit, Trump scolds nations not living up to the 2% guideline of military spending to GDP, refuses to reconfirm the ″all for one, one for all″ alliance (specifically the collective defense clause), and criticizes Germany for our trade deficit with them.
9. At the G7 summit, Trump refuses to commit one way or the other on the Paris agreement, but acquiesces on trade and protectionism.
10. After the European meetings, Angela Merkel suggests that Europe and U.S. relationship is at a point where they can’t fully rely on each other anymore. While emphasizing maintaining friendly relationships with the U.S., England, and Russia, she also says Europe basically needs to do its own thing.
11. The Pentagon apologizes to all affected in a botched airstrike on Mosul in March in which over 100 civilians were killed.
12. Trump calls Korean leader Kim Jung Un a madman with nukes just days before he says he’d be honored to meet with Kim.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rules against the Muslim ban 10-3, saying that taken in context, the executive order “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination.”
2. The State Department lifts the restriction on the number of refugees allowed to enter the U.S. Currently around 800 refugees enter each week; it’s estimated that will rise to over 1,500 per month.
3. Though Tillerson made a statement about Ramadan, he’s breaking with two decades of tradition and declining to host a commemorative event this year.
4. A white supremacist harangues two teenage girls for being Muslim (only one is, and she was wearing a hijab). Three heroes step in to defend them–two pay for it with their lives and the other with serious injuries. Prosecutors are trying to figure out if they can try this as a hate crime.
5. In international discrimination, militants opened fire on a bus of Christians, killing at least 26 and wounding 25. This is the fourth attack on Christians in Egypt since December.
6. And some good news in international discrimination, Tawain’s highest court rules against their marriage law saying that defining marriage as between a man and a women violates equal rights.
7. Nevada and Connecticut ban conversion therapy for minors, which has been proven not to work. Duh.

Climate/EPA:

1. A group of 22 Republican senators urge Trump to leave the Paris agreement. They say it will get in the way of legally gutting the Clean Power Plan.
2. The G7 summit declaration for 2017 includes the following text:
   “The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics,” the leaders wrote. “Understanding this process, the Heads of State and of Government of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom and the Presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement, as previously stated at the Ise-Shima Summit.”

Budget/Economy:

1. Trump’s budget released this week doesn’t account for the loss in revenue from tax cuts, leading some to say there is a $2 trillion basic math error.
2. The budget estimates 3% economic growth, something economists are skeptical about.
3. The new budget would lead to cuts to social security, MediCare, Medicaid, healthcare services, veterans’ benefits, food stamps, NIH, the State Department, CDC, food safety and inspections, education, transportation, agriculture assistance, international funding, the Justice Department, and more. Take a look at the NY Times breakdown for a deeper dive.
4. The largest cuts (percentage-wise) are to the EPA, State Department, and USDA (including crop insurance, conservation programs, and rural development programs).
5. In opposition to promises made, this budget cuts Medicare and social security; doesn’t include funding for the wall or police training; doesn’t increase funding for PTSD treatment; and doesn’t defund sanctuary cities;
6. Carrier announces they’re sending 600 jobs to Mexico and the huge monetary investment they made in their U.S. plant is going into automation, not new jobs.
7. And in the ″I’m taking this personally″ category, the budget gets rid of federal spending for the earthquake early warning system.
8. Trump says Germany should stop selling so many cars in the U.S. Even though most of those sold here are made in the U.S.

Elections:

1. The day Greg Gianforte is charged with misdemeanor assault, Montana elects him in a special election for the House seat left empty by Ryan Zinke’s move to the cabinet. He allegedly knocked over and began punching a reporter who interrupted a meeting with two Fox News reporters.

Miscellaneous:

1. The OGE rejects a White House request to stop the agency from looking into waivers granted to Trump administration officials that were hired from corporations and lobbying firms. Note that waivers are granted under most administrations, but the OGE has always looked into them. The Obama administration made their waivers public.
2. It appears that the Trump administration is adopting the Russian strategy of feeding false information. According to NY Times reporters, they have received misinformation from people in the administration on several occasions, but the lies were caught during the news vetting process.
3. A conservative group of Congress urge Trump to fire NIH director Dr. Francis Collins saying he’s not pro-life enough. They object to stem cell research and using human embryos in research.
4. John Boehner says Trump is still learning how to be president. Other than getting the House to pass a healthcare bill, he says everything else has been a disaster. (Though I would argue getting Gorsuch confirmed was also a success.)
5. According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration might get a legal team to review Trump’s tweets to avoid political and legal trouble, especially in light of the special counsel. His tweets have gotten him in trouble in the past, most recently around Comey’s firing and most notably when he accused Obama of wiretapping him.
6. Chris Christie advises Jared Kushner that the president should lawyer up and keep his mouth shut.
7. Graduating students at Notre Dame walked out on their graduation in protest of Mike Pence giving the commencement address.
8. 65% of voters say there’s a lot of fake news in mainstream media. My advice? Stick with reputable news agencies. Here’s a site I find helpful: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com. Click around the categories in the black bar, but mostly avoid the questionable sources!

Stupid Things Politicians Say:

1. Robert Mulvaney, budget director: “If you’re on food stamps and you’re able-bodied, we need you to go to work. If you’re on disability insurance and you’re not supposed to be — if you’re not truly disabled, we need you to go back to work.” In reality, around half of those relying on SNAP have at least one person in the family working (numbers vary), and an estimated 82% work within a year of receiving SNAP. The budget director should have these numbers.